City officials are seeking to sell the Chattanoogan hotel, seen here from an interior courtyard. Fifteen years after the city of Chattanooga began building the Chattanoogan conference facility as one of the city’s top hotels, the municipally-owned hotel may soon be put up for sale.
The city panel that helps operate the 199-room hotel and conference room for the city is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a resolution to approve the sale of the Chattanoogan hotel. The Chattanooga Downtown Redevelopment Corp. board will meet at 9 a.m. Wednesday at City Hall to consider a resolution to begin the process of hiring a consultant to assist the city in evaluating sale proposals for the downtown facility.
The city has previously considered selling the Chattanoogan but has not before ever put out a request for proposal to engage a consultant to market or evaluate proposals.
The Chattanoogan initially suffered some operating losses after it first opened to guests. But it has been profitable in recent years as business has grown and the city has restructured the debt it issued in 2001 to build the Chattanoogan, the Chattanooga Design Center and the expansion of the Chattanooga Convention Center.
The Chattanoogan, located at Broad and 12th Street, is managed for the city by Benchmark Hospitality Inc., which a city notice indicates may be merging with another company.